Little Hollywood

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Just click on Comments under the article, and a comment box will pop up. Write your message. Then go down to the little box under that, scroll down and click on Name/Url and type in your name. Click post. Then I will receive it and moderate it and send it along to be published. That's it!

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If you like what you're reading and would like to support local independent journalism, please consider a donation. Checks should be made out to "Little Hollywood" and can be mailed to Janine Gates, Little Hollywood Media, PO Box 7418, Olympia, WA 98507. Thank you!

All stories and photographs are copyrighted by Janine Gates, Little Hollywood Media.

About The Name

People ask me all the time about the name of my blog, Little Hollywood. Little Hollywood was the name of the shantytown down along the shores of what is now Capitol Lake, a place where some lively characters of Olympia lived. It was our "Hooverville" from the 1920s through the early 1950s. Well, as we know, our area has a lot of interesting, talented, educated characters, and the point of this blog is to help shine the light on some of our "stars" that might not ordinarily be heard through corporate media outlets. So, the name has a double meaning. And since it's my blog, it's Janine's Little Hollywood. Enjoy!

About Me

Thank you for visiting my blog! As a photographer, I also have a website, http://www.littlehollywoodphotography.com. I love Olympia and meet a lot of people who tell me great stories. I love to learn, and hope this blog of local news will be just another source of information for you. Please don't be shy to leave comments. I have set it up so the comments are private first, until I publish them, so if you don't want your comment published, just tell me so. And oh yeah, I'd appreciate it if corporate media or other news outlets did not steal my stories. Please ask if you'd like to reprint my story in your publication or at least give credit where credit is due if you read it here first. Associated Press standards consider blogs a legitimate news source and should be treated as such. Thank you!

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Above: This existing tent and supporting structure at 915 and 1007 Deschutes Parkway must be removed by May 11, says the City of Olympia. The tent is not permitted under International Fire Codes.

The city has recommended to a hearing examiner, among other conditions, that the 915 Deschutes Parkway residence and a proposed covered porch have sprinklers if required access for fire trucks cannot be provided to these structures. This shall be determined prior to issuance of building permits, says the city.

A new hearing date for the Grande Terrace on Capitol
Lake has been set for Thursday, July 30, 9:00 a.m., at Olympia City Hall, says Cari
Hornbein, City of Olympia interim principal planner who is handling the land use case.

Hornbein will send out a formal notice for the wedding
and event venue’s conditional use permit hearing in late June, “so it doesn’t fall
off people’s radar,” she said on Friday morning.

The venue had several weddings scheduled throughout
spring and summer, but was directed by the city to cancel those events and take
down a large, plastic tent because it does not conform to fire codes and other
regulations.

The business, located at 915 and 1007 Deschutes
Parkway SW near downtown Olympia, does not have a permit to operate. The
operator, Bart Zier, requested a conditional use permit from the city for the
rental of a residence for wedding and social events. The property is located in
an area zoned single family residential and the city has recommended denial of the
conditional use permit application to a hearing examiner.

Right Business, Wrong Location

Little
Hollywood has contacted three brides-to-be with upcoming
weddings scheduled at Grande Terrace, including one scheduled for August.

One is glad that she is out of the contract she
signed with Grande Terrace, and just received a full refund from venue operator
Bart Zier for her September wedding. The young bride-to-be, already informed of
the Grande Terrace debacle, was contacted by Zier two days ago to see if she
would like to switch her wedding to his other venue, Grand Holiday Ballroom, on
Fourth Avenue. She did not.

“I feel like I was tricked….I never would have
signed the contract if I had known about these code violations. I was not happy
to hear the extent of it. I told him I had no faith that he would be open by
September and now that I know about all these violations, I’d be embarrassed to
have my wedding in the wrong location,” said the life-long Olympia resident,
who did not want to be identified.

Another young bride-to-be wasn’t so lucky. Her
wedding was scheduled to occur at Grande Terrace at the end of this month, and
thanked Little Hollywood for
contacting her. She said Zier contacted her on May 5 and was unclear about why
she needed to move her wedding location.

She allowed Little
Hollywood to share her story, if she wasn’t identified, in hopes that it
helps others who may have their weddings or events scheduled there.

“Thank you for reaching out to me regarding this
issue. Bart has just contacted me about the news. I actually did some research
and found your articles….They were much more informative than Bart was, however
he has offered to have the wedding take place at the Grand Holiday Ballroom
with discounts and compensation for the inconvenience. This matter has been
completely unprofessional and I wish I had been notified more than 26 days
before the wedding takes place - that way, I could have researched my own venues
and booked another. I was able to negotiate discounts with Bart but I never
would have selected the Grande Terrace if I had known this was occurring.

“Thank you so much for taking it in your hands to
reach out to others concerning this issue, especially for those who may not
have been notified yet.”

Little Hollywood wishes all brides-to-be and their families the very best in life and believes everyone loves a wedding.